Taihu New City Officially Enters the Biopharmaceutical Industry with Multi-Resource Advantages
Issued by the Administrative Committee of Wujiang East Taihu Lake Eco-Tourism Resort, Jiangsu Province, on April 27, 2021“Several Opinions on Supporting the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Dongtaihu Lake Resort Area (Taihu New City)”Officially released, the journey of exploring the biomedical industry in Taihu New City has thus begun.
Taihu New City is located in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. Bordered by East Taihu Lake to the west, facing Shanghai to the east, adjacent to Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou to the north, and overlooking Zhejiang Province to the south, it serves as the seat of the Wujiang District Committee and District People’s Government. With a current administrative area of 198 square kilometers and a permanent population exceeding 430,000, it is a key component of Suzhou’s “One Core, Four Cities” development framework and a priority zone for southern Suzhou’s growth.
As the “main battlefield” for Wujiang’s innovative development and the “new engine” for Suzhou’s future industrial growth, Taihu New City has, over the 12 years since its initiation, consistently upheld the exploratory spirit of “seeing a single blueprint through to completion.” With fixed-asset investments exceeding RMB 200 billion, it has continuously built up industrial infrastructure, progressively perfected supporting facilities for related industries, and strived to establish itself as a new benchmark for urban development around Lake Tai.
Standing at a new historical starting point, Taihu New City, this hotbed of innovation, is focusing its attention on the biomedical industry with infinite possibilities.
In recent years, the Suzhou Municipal Government has attached great importance to the development of the biopharmaceutical industry. It has successively formulated and issued a series of important documents, including the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Clustered Development of Suzhou’s Biopharmaceutical Industry, Several Measures on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of Suzhou’s Biopharmaceutical Industry, and the Implementation Plan for Building Suzhou into a Landmark for the Biopharmaceutical and Health Industries (2020–2030). These documents explicitly propose benchmarking against and drawing lessons from the “Boston experience” in the United States, comprehensively constructing a biopharmaceutical industrial ecosystem with distinctive Suzhou characteristics, striving to establish Suzhou as the most competitive and influential biopharmaceutical industry landmark in China within ten years, and enhancing its international reputation.
According to official data, the output value of Suzhou's biopharmaceutical industry reached RMB 172.8 billion in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 31%. In 2020, this figure surpassed RMB 200 billion, accounting for nearly 10% of the city's GDP., the biopharmaceutical industry has begun to become an extremely important link in Suzhou's economic chain.
Driven by Suzhou’s extensive layout and outstanding performance in the biopharmaceutical industry, surrounding regions have embarked on their own exploration of this sector over the past one to two years. They are actively promoting the rapid development of their regional biopharmaceutical industries by following the successful path of the “Suzhou Model.”
In this marathon, Wujiang, one of the main urban districts of Suzhou, has taken the lead. As a “pioneer” in the national development strategy of “Yangtze River Delta Integration” and a “leader” in China’s private economy, Wujiang District of Suzhou is keeping pace with the times, seizing opportunities for industrial development, closely leveraging its existing resources, focusing its efforts on the medical and health industry, and planning its layout with top-level strategic thinking.
From the perspective of overall strategic planning, Wujiang's medical and healthcare industry is primarily concentrated in three major business sectors: biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and general health and wellness.As of now, more than 100 well-known domestic enterprises have settled in the district, among which 21 have been included in Suzhou’s database of above-scale pioneering industries.In terms of actual output, leveraging multiple advantages such as government support, resource integration, production capacity agglomeration, and focused development of the ecosystem chain,Wujiang's biomedical industry achieved an output value of approximately RMB 4 billion in 2020., making outstanding contributions to the economic development of the entire district.
But this is not the end. Looking to the future, Wujiang still has considerable “room for imagination” in building its medical and health industry.
Specific efforts will be focused on the following three sectors.1. Strengthen the cultivation of key enterprises, with preferential policies in post-tax arrangements, financial support, and complementary policy measures tilted toward biopharmaceutical enterprises, promptly assisting them in overcoming difficulties and challenges, and fully supporting their efforts to expand and strengthen;Second, accelerate the development of carrier platforms., prioritizing the development of key platforms such as the Science and Technology Innovation Park in the Development Zone, the Taihu New City Biopharmaceutical Industrial Park, and the Emerging Industries Park in Wujiang High-Tech Zone; focusing on the three core sectors of pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical devices, and general health to build a comprehensive industrial chain through concentrated efforts;3. Go all out to attract future-oriented projects, actively undertake the transfer of high-quality biopharmaceutical enterprises, streamline approval and regulatory measures, accelerate the attraction of a batch of flagship and leading projects, and enhance the depth and breadth of Wujiang's biopharmaceutical development.
It is foreseeable that Wujiang will be closely intertwined with the medical and health industry in the future. As one of the eight major economic platforms in Wujiang, Taihu New City has already begun to exert its efforts, leveraging its resource advantages to capitalize on the momentum of regional industrial development and rapidly establishing a strategic footprint in the biopharmaceutical sector.
To accelerate the high-quality development of the biopharmaceutical industry in Taihu New City, the Administrative Committee of Jiangsu Wujiang East Taihu Lake Ecological Tourism Resort has specially formulated and issued the “Several Opinions on Supporting the Biopharmaceutical Industry in East Taihu Lake Resort (Taihu New City),” establishing the tone for government support of the sector’s growth.
In addition, the Taihu New City Biopharmaceutical Industrial Park, Wujiang District’s first specialized park dedicated to the biopharmaceutical industry, is currently in the planning and construction phase. It is understood thatThe industrial park’s initial phase covers 41.68 mu, with a gross floor area of approximately 30,000 square meters, and will primarily focus on three key sectors: innovative drugs, biotechnology and emerging therapies, and high-end medical devices., and strive to build it into a first-class biomedical industry hub in the Yangtze River Delta and across China within three years.
Whether at the policy level or the infrastructure level, Taihu New City has laid a solid foundation for the development of the regional biopharmaceutical industry. However, whether this path can be successfully realized depends on the professionalism and comprehensiveness of its superstructure—that is, how to establish a robust supporting service system for industrial development.
First is the support of industrial development funds.To support leading enterprises in key industries and vigorously promote the incubation of scientific research and innovation, Taihu New City has established a government industrial guidance fund with a total scale of RMB 449 million, named “Suxin Qikang.” The fund supports the introduction and cultivation of major projects through mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, direct investment, and other means.
Secondly, there is the guarantee of resource allocation.Priority will be given to securing land for high-quality biomedical projects on the verge of industrialization. For high-quality biomedical enterprises deemed eligible for relocation by review experts, a rental subsidy of no more than RMB 20 per square meter per month, based on actual rent, will be granted for a period of three years starting from the date of relocation.
Next is the optimization of the industrial development environment.Innovation is the lifeblood of industrial development. To vigorously promote the implementation of innovation projects and foster a favorable innovation ecosystem within the park, Taihu New City has prioritized the implementation of a “case-by-case” support mechanism. This includes: supporting internationally renowned and domestically leading universities and research institutes in establishing innovation R&D institutions and achievement commercialization projects; supporting various innovation entities in building industrial technology service platforms; encouraging domestic and international social capital and medical institutions to establish clinical trial institutions, clinical medical research centers, and clinically oriented research hospitals; and supporting high-quality educational institutions at home and abroad in establishing medical and pharmaceutical schools, while strengthening biomedical disciplines at local universities and research institutes.
Finally, the bonus incentive system.To provide substantial support to enterprises settled in the industrial park and promote their high-quality development, Taihu New City has established a comprehensive bonus incentive system based on three dimensions: outstanding projects, key talents, and local contributions. First, rewards for settling major projects: biomedical projects that are approved by the resort’s biomedical industry review experts and undergo industrialization within the resort will be subsidized according to the proportion of actual annual investment completed, with a maximum subsidy rate of 15%. Projects with investments exceeding RMB 1 billion or those involving land supply will be handled on a “case-by-case” basis. Second, rewards for introducing key talents: generous incentives will be provided to top-tier talents such as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/Academy of Engineering and foreign academies of developed countries, as well as high-end and urgently needed talents and leading figures in the biomedical sector, with a maximum reward of RMB 50 million. Third, rewards for local contributions: if an enterprise’s tax revenue stored in the local treasury increases year-on-year by 15%–30% (inclusive of 15%), 30%–50% (inclusive of 30%), or more than 50% (inclusive of 50%), it will receive rewards equivalent to 60%, 70%, or 80%, respectively, of the increased portion of its local contribution at the corresponding level for the current year.
From the perspective of the industry’s development trajectory, Taihu New City is still in its nascent stage on the path to advancing its biopharmaceutical sector. Nevertheless, its ultimate potential remains undefined, making it a genuine “high-potential asset.”
The reason for such confidence lies in the fact thatTaihu New City’s favorable policy environment, unique locational advantages, robust industrial foundation, strong innovation capacity, and business-friendly ecosystem that respects and values commerceIt can provide fertile ground for industrial development, offering a continuous driving force for the industry’s steady advancement.
Looking to the future, Taihu New City will fully promote the “339 Project” by comprehensively launching the construction of the Taihu New City Biopharmaceutical Industrial Park through measures such as repositioning, optimization and renovation, and effective revitalization of idle resources, thereby vigorously advancing the agglomeration of biopharmaceutical industries, resource allocation, and leading and driving development.Strive to introduce two leading biopharmaceutical projects and incubate 20 to 30 projects within three years, establishing Taihu New City as a premier biopharmaceutical industry hub in the Yangtze River Delta and across China.